Mobile radio communication is well known in the art. Cellular radio has spawned Personal Communication Service (PCS). PCS is wireless and the user requires no tether such as the wire pair that connects a conventional telephone to a local serving switch. Cellular radio with a hand held terminal, i.e. hand held cellular telephones, gives the user tetherless telephone communication. Further, paging systems provide the mobile and ambulatory user with a means of being alerted that someone wishes to contact or talk to that person. The cordless telephone is yet another example of a tetherless personal communication device.
The public switched telecommunications network (PSTN) is vast and includes hundreds of national networks that are interconnected to form a gigantic international network. Cellular service is an adjunct to the network. Cellular radio systems provide two-way signaling and communication by usually connecting a mobile terminal to another user through the PSTN where the other user is most commonly a subscriber of the PSTN. Nevertheless, the other user may be a mobile terminal. Most of the connectivity involves connecting wired telephone service to mobile users. The mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) is the heart of a cellular system for a specific serving area. The MTSO is connected to the PSTN by a trunk group. Trunks are the telephone lines connecting one telephone switch or exchange with another.
In contrast, paging is a one-way radio alerting system that is a simple extension of the PTSN. Unlike cellular radio systems, the direction of transmission is from a fixed paging transmitter to an individual. Some pagers have digital readouts which provide the individual with a number to call back while others give a short message or enable a transmitter to leave a voice mail by hooking into a voice mail system.
Technology in recent years has resulted in a vast number of cordless telephones, cellular telephones and paging apparatus which exhibit a variety of unique and multiple features. For example, the following described inventions are directed to cellular telephones. U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,848 issued to Hanawa discloses an apparatus for a mobile communication system having a handset which can be programmed to lock calls, restrict calls, or time calls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,009 issued to Bogusz et al. describes a cellular telephone having a fixed calling capacity which limits the use of the phone by only enabling it to call emergency telephone numbers. A similar cellular telephone is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,570 issued to Boubelik which discloses an emergency radio telephone apparatus having a housing, a radio transceiver for receiving and transmitting modulated radio signals, and an actuator connected to the housing for actuating the transceiver and initiating the process of connecting to a predetermined emergency phone number. U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,772 issued to Metroka et al. describes a portable radiotelephone with control switch disabling having a keypad covered by a movable element which produces an on-hook condition when the movable element is in a first position covering the keypad, and an off-hook condition when the movable element is in a second position exposing the keypad.
Numerous paging systems having various functions and capabilities are also well known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,989 issued to Kasugai describes a paging system having a vehicle mounted repeater with a portable paging receiver detachably mounted on the repeater. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,963 issued to Gutman et al. discloses a paging system having a centrally located terminal and a plurality of remote pager units wherein both automatic and manual acknowledge back signaling is provided.
The prior art also includes combined radiotelephone and paging systems as evidenced by the following: i) U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,204 issued to Sasaki et al. discloses a cordless telephone apparatus with a removably mounted pager which reports an incoming signal from a parent device or radiotelephone; ii) U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,122 issued to Bhagat et al. describes a mobile paging call back system which includes a control unit interconnecting a radio pager, a memory, an indicator, a control switch, and an automatic dialer with the control unit including a logic circuit that is programmed to verify valid telephone number information received from a pager, to store the verified data in memory, to activate the indicator to show that valid data has been received and to transfer the stored data to the automatic dialer to reach a mobile radiotelephone; iii) U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,449 issued to Metroka et al. discloses an integrated paging and radiotelephone apparatus which combines paging and cellular radiotelephone functions in a single unit having dual receivers thereby allowing reception of paging signals simultaneously with cellular radiotelephone signals; and iv) U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,473 issued to Freeland et al. which describes an apparatus combining a radio pager and a cellular radiotelephone into one unit which may automatically receive a plurality of pages while the cellular radiotelephone is on and communicating a cellular telephone call, or off or unattended.
Although combined radiotelephone and paging systems have been described, none of those systems prevents initiation of a direct two-way wireless voice communication by the subscriber or holder of the dual paging/radiotelephone system, and none are applicable outside the United States where calling party pays (CPP) exists when the caller and subscriber are activated. Either one or both of these features would drastically reduce fraudulent use of the wireless two-way communication system. Further, implementation of either or both of these features would enable a subscriber to exert optimum control over costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for a call receiving pager apparatus, system and method utilizing a dedicated switch which allow for incoming calls but prevent direct outgoing calls in order to control costs and fraudulent use of the system. This is particularly useful in those situations where companies would like to enable their employees to have direct real-time wireless two-way communication with one another in order to facilitate job efficiency. For example, individual employees such as sales persons, drivers and delivery personnel, real estate agents, and hospital personnel could be equipped with the present invention in order to communicate with others within or outside of their organization either out in the field or within a large facility that houses the employees. There is also a need for such a call receiving pager apparatus, system and method utilizing a dedicated switch where the calling party is billed for the call so that a pager number is not given out to numerous individuals by the person carrying the apparatus thereby enabling anyone to run up telephone toll charges associated with use of the apparatus during two-way communication.
Parents are another target market for this call receiving pager apparatus, system and method utilizing a dedicated switch in that it would enable children to be directly connected to their parents upon being paged by their parents or enable them to request connection to their parents on a pre-paid basis or collect call basis without the expense of cellular telephone charges. Such an apparatus, system and method will prevent the accumulation of billings associated with frivolous or unnecessary calls made by children in that the apparatus, system and method do not allow those possessing the apparatus to make direct outgoing calls. Further, if the apparatus were stolen, it would be impossible to commit further fraud by charging the subscriber of the apparatus for calls because the apparatus, system and method employ caller generated billing.
Some of these same objectives for the target markets described above may also be achieved by providing two-way text messaging with the above described apparatus where the text messaging can be billed in part or in whole to an outside caller number.
Finally, there is also a need for a call receiving pager apparatus, system and method utilizing a dedicated switch which provide a subscriber of the apparatus with an ability to contact a predetermined number or call center number without enabling the subscriber to initiate real time, direct two-way wireless communication with the predetermined number or call center number thereby keeping the fraud and cost control functions of the system, method and apparatus intact. This is achieved by enabling the method, system and apparatus to send a pre-recorded voice or data message from the subscriber apparatus to a pre-determined telephone number such as an emergency number, e.g. “911”, a home telephone number, an office or business number, or a call center number. Upon connection with the pre-determined number or call center number, the transmitted pre-recorded voice or data message informs the receiver of the call as to the subscriber's name and the subscriber's page number. The pre-recorded voice or data message may also include a brief message from the subscriber and then instructs the receiver to page/call the subscriber in order to offer the receiver a number of services that are available including pre-paid connection. When the receiver has no pre-paid account and no means for credit card payment, no calls can be made to the subscriber thereby avoiding fraud. However, the subscriber is still unable to initiate direct two-way voice communication in that a call back to the subscriber can only be made by an automated or manual operator. The predetermined telephone number may also include outside caller telephone numbers which have been stored in a database as a result of the caller calling the apparatus. These outside caller numbers can then be searched and selected by the subscriber so that the subscriber can create an original text message to send to the outside caller or, alternatively, the subscriber may send a pre-recorded voice message or text message. The subscriber may also request a call back from a selected stored number by having an automated or manual operator make a connection to the stored number on a pre-paid or collect basis where the pre-paid or collect call is charged to either the call receiver or the subscriber.